Anti-social behaviour crackdown refined

Overview and Scrutiny Committee meet to review the work of Community Safety and Joint Enforcement Teams

Spelthorne Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on 19 September to review the work of the Council's Community Safety and Joint Enforcement Teams.

The Committee welcomed David Munro, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, who gave an overview of his priorities one year on.

Joint Enforcement Teams (JET) are one of the success stories of his first year in office, according to David. Commenting on the work of the Council's JET team, he said: "A key part of my role is to help build safer communities so I am delighted that this scheme is doing so well. I have no doubt these teams will continue to successfully tackle issues raised by residents to ensure Surrey is the safest county it can be."

Inspector Alan Sproston was on hand to respond to a number of concerns raised by the Committee about crime and anti-social behaviour in the Borough, including about Staines town centre on Sundays. The Inspector explained that reported anti-social behaviour across the Borough dropped in 2016, with the exception of Staines-upon-Thames which saw a rise of 19 per cent. He also confirmed that Surrey Police were committed to providing a further resource in the town on Sundays to work with businesses and help reassure the community that the area is a safe place to spend time.

The Committee also heard from Joanna Hall, Two Rivers Manager, who said that the Staines-upon-Thames Business Improvement District (BID), of which she is a board member, is also committed to providing Town Rangers to act as ambassadors for the town and work in partnership with Surrey Police.

Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny, Cllr Colin Davis said, "Anti-social behaviour is a blight on our communities. It's important that we continue to work effectively in partnership to reduce this unacceptable activity. We want to build on the successes of our Community Safety and JET teams and plan to set up a task group to further review the effectiveness of multi-agency responses to anti-social behaviour, to improve community engagement and increase footfall in Staines Town centre on Sundays".